Two Weeks in Iceland

Originally, me and 2 friends had planned a Scandinavian trip to Sweden (for Midsommar), Norway, and Iceland, but it had been canceled due to the Covid Pandemic. As a result, we were stuck with travel vouchers (for me with Iceland airlines). As a result from July 25th to August 7th, I traveled to Iceland instead as it was the only country which would take US travelers who had been vaccinated.

The first thing I instantly confirmed was how expensive everything in the country was. Most meals will cost $20-$30 even at fairly cheap places when ordering a bowl of soup or a small sandwich. Getting past that, the food was pretty decent. The bread in particular, was to die for. They had a rye bread that tasted like a rye version of banana bread; slightly sweet, but very rich and tasted homemade.

(Seen here is a meal at Cafe Loki) Other must try foods: -Lamb stew -Lobster Soup -Rye Icecream -Cinnamon rolls -Ice Cream at Valdis The fish is pretty decent and there is a lot of fine dining everywhere you go, but those particularly are the best in my opinion. The Hakarl (fermented shark) is overrated and is not even that strong tasting, the hardfiskur (fish jerkey) is kind of hilarious and worth a shot, and the Skyr (Icelandic yogurt) is quite good.

(Ian Chinich eating Hakarl, fermented shark)

Of the things I did, The glacier hike was probably the most fun.

(Ian Chinich hiking a glacier in the South of Iceland in August 2021) Followed by the Phallic Museum in Reykjavik

And the National Museum and Saga Museum.

The scorcery and witchcraft museum is interesting but a long drive unless you are heading in that direction

While I think that Iceland is new to tourism and still developing institutions to support it and things to see other than small random sites hours away, some of its greatest charm is that it still has many areas that are off the beaten path.... there are dirt roads, very little night life, and sheep everywhere you go. If you like good bread and hiking in scenery out of A Song of Ice and Fire, check out Iceland for yourself!

The King Beyond the Gate

The King Beyond the Gate by David Gemmell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this book even better than the first book in the Drenai saga. Again it follows characters resisting impossible odds in a struggle that comes 100 years after the events in the first. While still being slightly formulaic in that the action tends to take place in defense of fortifications, the opposing factions and character motivations are much better in this book. It also further develops the cultural regions from the first book, Legend, and contains some memorable heroes who are faced with the ultimate sacrifice.

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